


The Boy Who Never Grew

by Secrets_at_Midnight



Series: Dæmons and Dragons [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemon Feels, Daemon settling, Daemons, Gen, I love Xander, I love these AU’s, Other, Settling, and Fire Emblem needed some works for it, feedback is always welcomed, my first work please be gentle as I figure out the formatting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-14 20:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13598229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secrets_at_Midnight/pseuds/Secrets_at_Midnight
Summary: Xander's dæmon settled late.Despite all the responsibilities he had had to take on at such a young age, it had seemed like she would never, ever settle.





	The Boy Who Never Grew

Xander's dæmon settled late.

Despite all the responsibilities he had had to take on at such a young age, it had seemed like she would never, ever settle.

He remembered as a child, when they would play, she would transform into fantastical and magnificent shapes: a small griffin from the storybooks his mother would read to him, a golden lioness, a bird with a mesmerizing array of colors, a moth the size of Garon’s massive hand, with spots on her wings that looked like eyes.

Victoire said she remembered Mother’s dæmon, although Xander himself did not. She never told Xander what he had been, but when the prince found a large portrait of Queen Katerina, he took the form of a great and noble wolf with grizzled fur.

Once Father grew distant — or, as Xander learned later, when that... _thing_ replaced him — his responsibilities became much more real. He was determined to grow out of the shy, weak little boy. He trained. He trained and he trained until his bones ached to the marrow, and his childhood passed him by as he was forced to grow up far too soon. But still, Victoire was able to change into the form of whatever animal she pleased.

As he approached seventeen, he was starting to think that something was wrong with him, that she would never settle. It didn't sit well with him at all, even as Camilla chuckled and called him lucky. And all the while, he could only wonder at who he truly was as a person. Would he ever know?

 “Ah, don’t let it get you down, brother,” she said. Zelos sat in his hawk form at his customary place on her shoulder, gazing at Xander with dark eyes. Camilla inspected a lilac lock of her hair with mild interest as she twirled it around her finger.

“She’ll settle when she settles.” 

While she was clearly trying to comfort him, her words did very little. Yet he still managed a weak smile.

“Thank you, sister.”

The beauty of Nohr knew he was dissatisfied — she _always_ knew with any of them — but she watched him leave without comment, even if emotion flickered in eyes as dark as her dæmon’s.

He knew Victoire's lack of settling didn't sit well with anyone else in the royal court; he heard the maids' rude whispers and saw the way Father's concubines stared at him and his dæmon like he was some sort of freak, something less than human. Victoire always changed into something smaller, more inconspicuous, like a mouse or a dark colored moth to snuggle closer. He felt her guilt, even though it was just as out of her control as it was his. He was the crown prince, not a little boy. He had never been granted that luxury. He was the crown prince, and yet his dæmon wouldn’t settle? What kind of impression did that give everyone who expected so much out of him? Would he forever be known as the prince, the king, with the child’s dæmon? The man who never grew up? As a child, the proposal might have excited him (as it would any child), but as a young boy-man, it was a death sentence.

"Why won't I settle?" Victoire whispered in her soft, unassuming voice, voicing his thoughts precisely. "Is there something wrong with me? With _us?_ " Xander made a point of keeping his gaze on the text of the book in front of him and his mouth shut; perhaps ignoring her, trying to deal with issues on his own, would help him to grow up and find out who he was. Besides... what was there to say whenever even your own soul had no advice? His dæmon whimpered.

“ _Talk_ to me! _Xander!_ ” She pestered him and pestered him, every bit as stubborn as he was, but he would not acknowledge her. Eventually, she gave up, determined to ignore him too, if only to mask the hurt she felt.

 Suffice it to say, ignoring her for weeks accomplished nothing but put more pressure on him for not confiding in her and hurting her feelings. She still flew as a sparrowhawk, padded next to him as a panther, and then hid on his lapel as a dark colored moth when the stares came. When he acknowledged her again, holding her close so their hearts beat together, she cried out with joy.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

"That's no warrior. Look, his dæmon still changes! That's a child." The Hoshidans pointed out to each other. Xander gripped tightly onto Siegfried with both hands — the sword the mother they had taken away from him had wielded — and worked his jaw. Victoire assumed the form of a large tiger and growled, trying to disguise just how much neither one of them wanted to fight.

“I'll show you who's a child, and defend my homeland," the crown prince vowed. With sweat on his brow and shaking hands, he proceeded to do just that. He would never forget Victoire’s horror as their dæmons disappeared into showers of golden sparks.

“They just... disappeared,” she repeated, tremors shaking her body. “They just disappeared. They were _gone._ ” He was frightened at how easily Siegfried sliced through flesh and bone. He stared down at his hands, forever stained with the blood, the lives of those men, the futures that he had stolen from them, and distantly heard his retainers as they attempted to console him.

The day he could wield Siegfried with one hand was the day his retainers were killed. They had died valiantly protecting him, the way they would have wanted to go, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. It was as if a limb had been severed, a part of him taken away yet again. He rode away with tears in his eyes while Victoire howled in grief. It was a haunting, beautiful, eerie call that permeated the unforgiving night air like a spirit that couldn’t find it’s final rest. They had protected him... he had been so helpless. He hadn’t been able to save them. He wouldn’t let this happen ever again... not to those that he loved. He would protect them with every fiber in his body. He would defend them until his body crumpled to ash. He refused to be weak anymore.

When Xander decided to finally leave his chambers, many nights, missed meals, and coaxes from Camilla later, he realized.

"Victoire..." Auburn eyes were wide as he regarded her.

"I was wondering when you'd notice," she said softly. Her own eyes, forever a deep brown, were alight with a subdued sort of joy, dull though her fur was.

"Do you mean—"

"Yes, Xander," the white wolf said and rose up to pad over to him. She rested her head on his leg, and looked as tired as he felt. "I've settled."

**Author's Note:**

> And I finally get something submitted on here! Dæmon AU’s have always fascinated me, as is finding dæmons for characters. This is my first work on here, so feedback is definitely appreciated! I’m always working to improve my writing because it’s something I love. :) 
> 
> Xander’s dæmon is named Victoire and settles as an Arctic wolf.  
> Camilla’s dæmon is named Zelos and settles as a Harris’ hawk.


End file.
